A Different Path
by Larania Drake
Summary: An Animorphs Heralds of Valdemar cross. Ax becomes a type of monk. Weird.
1. Default Chapter Title

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A Different Path

Disclaimer: Animorphs belongs to Scholatic, and the Heralds of Valdemar series belong to Mercedes Lackey. I do not wish to make any money off this in any way, shape or fashion.

Prologue

Aximili

My name is Aximili, and I am a confused Andalite.

My people are not superstitious. We do not believe any more in what our ancestors did, in gods. What would be the point? With science, it is obvious that those were just ways of explaining the inexplicable.

I have observed my human friends making statements about whatever god they believe in. I do not understand how such intelligent beings are taken in by these ancient superstitions. 

Yet, the Ellimists are real. Could it be possible that these beings called gods are real, too?

It is night. I have been having trouble sleeping recently. I have been thinking of things like life and death. My culture usually ignores that aspect of life, yet it troubles me.

When the body dies, do we just stop? Does anything go on to something else? Is this it?

For all the time I have been here on earth, I have fought the Yeerks. But is has troubled me, all of the killing, all the death, if it is for nothing. Are there any greater powers? Are the Ellimist and Crayak all the ultimate authority that exists?

I turned off the T. V., and walked outside my scoop.

I looked up to the stars, and tried looking at them, not as giant balls of gas, but as something else. Maybe I was looking for a sign, I don't know. I sighed, thinking, what was the harm? I will try something different. I will pray.

Staring out at the night, I whispered in thought-speak, I have never done this before, but if you are real, someone, I would ask for your help. My friends and I are in a war we cannot really win. I know that. I might as well admit it. Please, show me some kind of sign, an omen. I need something to believe in. If you can here me, answer me, please. 

I listened with all the strength I had, and I heard nothing.

I went back into my scoop, and turned on the television.

Jake

My name is Jake. You probably know the details, so I won't go into them. 

Today had been a normal day. You might even say a bit boring. Hey, though, I like boring. It means no pain, running and screaming, no life and death decisions, and no gambling with my friend's lives. It was a good day.

I got home from school and opened the fridge, looking for a snack. I felt a strange prickling on the back of my neck; the kind I get when something is about to happen. I'm not psychic or anything, but you learn to trust instincts like that in my job. So, I turn around, bringing the soda I had gotten up to throw.

My eyes found a woman, dressed all in black, with black hair, gold toned skin, and a sword peeking out from under a long overcoat. She was impossibly beautiful. Then, I saw her eyes. There was nothing there, just the blackness of night, and they were strewn with sparkling stars. 

She couldn't be human.

Then what the hell was she?

I felt as if she was reading me, everything that I had been and would become. Man, did I feel naked.

Finally, she smiled, and the lump that I hadn't noticed was gone from my throat. I could talk.

"Are you an Ellimist?" I croaked, feeling sweat seem to pop out all over me.

"No," she answered, in a soft, musical voice. Despite its beauty, there was a terrible ring to it, like the sound of two swords colliding.

"What-," I cleared my throat, and less hoarsely, continued," What are you then?"

"My name is Kalanel, Jake, and I need your help."

Marco

Jake called me, saying that we needed to meet at Cassie's. He had sounded weird on the phone, like he was both awed and annoyed. Strange combination. 

I morphed osprey, and flew over to the barn. I had felt really P.O.'d, because I had a project that was due tomorrow, and I hadn't even started the research.

When I arrived, everyone else was already there. Rachel was lounging on a hay bale, Ax was standing in the middle of the room as himself, and Cassie was cleaning cages. Tobias was in his usual spot in the rafters. Where was Jake?

"Hey, Cass, any idea why Jake called the meeting then skipped out?" I ask.

She turned to me, then back to the cage. "Your guess is as good as mine. I have no more of a clue than anyone else."

"Great," I muttered to myself, sitting cross-legged on a bale.

We waited a while, then Jake finally showed up, with a stranger. Immediately, Ax went combative, Rachel started her grizzly bear morph, and Tobias swooped. I started my gorilla morph, when without warning, everyone stopped. The woman Jake had brought raised an eyebrow, and we all stared. That was all we could do, being frozen and all.

Jake grimaced. "Guys, this is Kalanel. She is here to ask for our help. I think we had better listen."

Rachel

Once we were free to move again, we sat, but warily. Jake started telling how he had met her. I listened with half an ear, far more interested in looking this woman over. 

I had just noticed her sword, when I got to her eyes. The sheer power in them washed me over.

"Are you an Ellimist?" I asked without thinking. 

NO. Came a rather ticked sounding voice.

"No," Kalanel echoed.

WHY ARE YOU HERE, STAR-EYED?

"To plead for help."

YOU? 

"Yes, me."

The Ellimist appeared in the form of an old man, with star strewn eyes. I compared the two.

I definitely thought Kalanel seemed more powerful, though I couldn't say why.

" The Yeerks will, in some time, invade my world. It doesn't have the same defenses that earth does. We are humans, without your technology. I can take you to my world, and make sure that you are able to come back to this one. No matter what happens there, you will return here."

You can do this? asked Ax skeptically. When the Ellimist apparently cannot? 

Suddenly, the guise that the woman wore to seem human vanished, and we could feel the energy running through the room. Kalanel was still Kalanel, but now, she wore black chain link armor, high black boots, and slacks.

**_Yes, I can. I am not like the Ellimist. I am older, far more so. I have been here for a long time. _**

I shivered, and screwed up my courage to ask," Who are you really?" I could see that the Ellimist was trembling.

**_I am the Star-Eyed, the Warrior, the Goddess of the South Wind and the New Moon_**, **one of the Aspects of the Lady.**

All of us just sat in silence. There was not much you could say after that.

"What will happen if we go?" asked Cassie, breaking the silence.

**_I will give you identities to fit into your new lives. I cannot tell how long yet you will be there, and you will need to understand the places you will be going. I will put your souls into new vessels, which will look similar to your old ones. If you are killed or after the Yeerks are driven out, you will return to your old body, here, in this barn. No time will pass between_**.

I looked into Her eyes again, feeling foolish at my boldness. I saw true suffering there, for the fate of her people, and her world.

If you are what you say you are, why are you asking us for help? Why don't you just destroy them with a wave of your hand? asked Ax, sounding odd, with a mixture of wonder, fear, and skepticism. 

**_I am bound by rules. There would be open warfare between the gods if I were to violate them. Many of those Powers believe that mortals should be left to their own devises. Mortals are to the most of what they can for themselves before we intervene._**

Jake commented," Why are you here now, then? If you are not supposed to get involved?"

**__**

We may intervene when petitioned, and I have been so. I have gone to find mortals who have fought the Yeerks, and understand them. We may only intervene directly when all life is threatened. If the Yeerks were to win here, the gods would surely act. Until then, you must do what you can to stop the tide.

"Aren't you breaking the rules now by getting us?" interjected Cassie.

**_I said nothing about bending them. You are mortals. I am not acting if I ask you, not make you, help. Not all life is threatened yet, and you are the best hope I can find, and maybe the only one. _**

"Well, what do we get out of it?" asked Marco, even though he had his hands in front of his eyes_._

I pinched him.

"Ouch!"

She answered anyway.

**_You have a right to ask shrewd one. All I can offer is knowledge of another world, and the things you might learn there. I will tell you this, however. Our two worlds are far more similar than you know._**

I felt a smile creep across my face. I looked at Jake. He nodded, and looked to the others. Various expressions of agreement met his gaze.

Jake turned to the Goddess.

"Let's do it!"

The smile on Her face was like the sun coming out.

**_Done._**

Chapter One

It was still a week before the Midwinter festival. This year was going to be a special one, thought Jake of Wyvern's Reach. This year, we are going to spend it in the capital of Valdemar, the city of Haven.

It would be the first time that he and his brother Thom had been to the Capital. Jake's parents were minor nobles, and were far enough away that they rarely had any business there. 

As Jake packed his bags, he wondered if his parents had forgotten the most important part about Haven. The Herald's Collegium was there, and so was Companions field. He could be Chosen!

Jake had always wanted to be a Herald. He had read everything that he could get his hands on about the near legendary 'Arrows of the Queen'. They went out and did things, not just read about them. They righted wrongs, and delivered the Queen's justice. They were messengers, spies, and sometimes thieves, in the service of Valdemar. Jake truly believed in what they did, and he wanted nothing more than to be one of them. Whenever he had mentioned his ambition to his father, he had always told him that the job was too dangerous. He was only thirteen, and had no idea of the threats they faced. A rebellious voice inside him told him that he had somehow faced threats that maybe only a Herald could imagine. He had dreams of being something huge and powerful, fighting evils not of this world, but then he woke up, and recognized those dreams for what they were, a kid's dreams after too many hours listening to the bards.

"Jake!" shouted his father. "You better get down here, the pack train is leaving!"

Jake jumped, and grabbed his saddlebags. Taking the steps three at a time, he ran out into the courtyard, and hopped into the saddle of his gelding, Hardhead. He could hardly wait.

A few days later, he hoped that Haven would be better than the trip there. All the way, his brother talked about he was looking forward to the annual fencing matches held during the Festival, and when he wasn't talking about that, he was talking about how the most beautiful ladies in Court were going to be there. There was one particular one that he would go on about for hours. Jake wondered if he could but a bur in his saddle to make him shut up.

When they got to Haven, they went their winding way through the city. Jake's father told him that Haven had been built with defense in mind, and that they made sure that no roads led directly to the Palace. Jake thought he would go to sleep and fall off his horse, when they finally got there.

They went through the Privy gate. It was a bit smallish, but big enough for their needs. Immediately, Jake's mother told him that they had to go get bathes; they were eating at Court tonight.

"Mom!" Jake protested. "We just got here! I'm bushed. And a bath? We had one at the inn we last stayed at."

The glare she gave him was answer enough.

He rushed to the bathing rooms, and was impressed with the way they were made. The copper boilers for the heating water and the hole to drain away the used water was a great idea.

After getting out his best tunic and breeches, Jake found his family, and they went to the dining room.

Is it possible to die from boredom? Wondered Jake, not for the first time as the evening wore on. No one was there for him to talk to, and when he did try to talk to someone, they looked at him as if he was some sort of talking dog. 

Jake sighed. He wondered where Companions' Field was. Maybe he could go see if he could be Chosen. He had hoped that a Companion would meet him at the gate. None was, and he had been depressed the rest of the evening.

Jake heard his brother laugh, talking to a pretty girl. He groaned. This was going to be one of the longest nights of his life.

As the holiday wore on, he despaired of ever being Chosen. Maybe he wasn't good enough. Maybe he just wasn't as smart as he needed to be. He wished he knew. 

Finally, it was time to go, and good riddance. He hoped he never saw Haven again.

_Be honest with yourself, Jake, _he told himself._ You just got mad because you weren't Chosen. Did you actually think you could do it?_

He mentally agreed with himself. He just never would. That was that.

His father led them through the twists and turns of Haven. Around and around they went. Jake was looking at nothing, thinking about how stupid he had been, when he heard an earth shattering whiny.

Everyone turned in their saddle. A white horse, no, _Companion_, galloped toward them.

It stopped at Jake. All Jake could do was stare into its blue eyes. He felt like he was falling in.

_: Hello, Jake. I am Blazar, and you are my Chosen:._

Cassie had always been a normal girl with a talent for animals. She had helped her parents, the local healers, stitch up raccoons, birds and any other animal that was injured and crossed their path. It was a way of life.

She grew up next to the Pelegris Hills, and had seen a lot of strange things. Firebirds, _kyree,_ and even some _hertasi_, to name a few. The strangest, however, had to be when she was five, and she had been out with some friends, playing. A bad snow storm had come through. This happened every winter, and Cassie almost enjoyed them. She had been building snow forts, when she felt, more than heard, a whimper of pain.

No one else seemed to hear it, and she decided to go off on her own to investigate. She was five, after all, and could handle these things. 

She found a tangle of broken down bushed, and a tree skewed sideways. A dead griffin was beside it. She was sad at seeing such a big, big animal dead. It was so pretty. Then it seemed to move.

She jumped back, and gasped. The movement had stopped. Her curiosity overcame her five year old fear, and she went to she was had moved. Was it still alive?

Then a wiggling motion came from under the wings, and she understood. What was moving was _under_ it.

She went to where the wings were, and yanked them up as hard as she could. Nothing happened.

She grunted, and tried again. Nothing had happened.

Then, a bear came up. Cassie looked at the bear. It seemed to be asking her a question.

"No, I don't want the meat. I am trying to get something from underneath it. If you help me, you can have all the meat you want," she replied, with at five-year-old's lack of concern with being found by a large carnivore. It would do as she asked. She knew it.

It did. Carefully, it put its muzzle under the body, and heaved. The dead griffin flopped, and rolled over.

Under it was a baby griffin.

Well, Cassie knew what to do when she found a baby animal lost in the woods. She took it home to her Momma and Da. Picking up the little griffin, and holding it tightly to her chest, she walked back to her home. Finding her Momma and Da gone, she put the griffin in her bed, got some soup for herself and the griffin, and they ate. 

The griffin ate sloppily, and got soup everywhere. Cassie giggled, and cleaned them both up.

Rubbing the griffin dry, she said, "Oh, your so soft. I'll call you, um, Downy." 

The baby gave a soft gurgle, and went to sleep. Cassie joined it. 

Later, when her parents came home, they did their best to find another griffin to take care of Downy. Eventually, they found out that she was a female, smart as any human, and Downy grew up with Cassie, like a sister. 

Cassie started showing signs of the Healing gift early, and at thirteen, went to Haven to join the Healers' Collegium. They tried to make Downy stay behind, but that was like telling any cat what to do. It just didn't work. So Downy went to the Collegium, with Cassie.

Jake and Cassie met at the Collegium by accident. Jake had been there about two months, when he went riding Blazar into the Field to exercise him. 

Jake was talking to Blazar in mind-speech, and not paying any attention where they went. He was still adjusting to life in Haven, and had developed enough mind-speech to have a long talk with Blazar about a history test, when all of a sudden, a half-grown griffin shot out from behind a tree.

Jake yelled, and without warning, a ball of fire ignited itself beside her.

Suddenly, Cassie came running, yelling several rude things at Jake.

"Lady Bright, watch what you're doing," she finally said, when the rest of her vocabulary had run out.

"I'm sorry," Jake began, when Downy interrupted.

"I'm sssoorrrry, sssir. I ddidn't mean to ssscarre you," she hissed. Frankly, Jake was just shocked that words could come out of that beak.

Downy, in her hissing voice, told Cassie what happened. Cassie looked embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, I over reacted. Not everyone has like Downy that much, and I guess I was a little sensitive. My name is Cassie. What's yours?" She put her hand out to shake.

Taking it, he answered," Jake. Pleased to meet you." He noticed her washed out green clothes. "You are a Healer trainee?"

"Yup, and you're a Herald trainee, right?" she asked, gesturing to his gray uniform.

"Uh-huh. I was Chosen two months ago. I'm still getting the ropes, though."

"Well, good. If you know where, then, could you tell me where to find the dining hall? I'm lost."

Jake laughed, and dismounted. Pointing, he said," This way."

Raqueljiz was a member of the noble house, Erstogath. 

She hated it.

Ever since she could walk, her mother had made her act a certain way, talk a certain way, sit a certain way and even sleep a certain way. All she did was governed by rules of good behavior. It was all geared, so her mother said, to making her a suitable marriage piece.

If there was one thing she did not want, it was to be wrapped up in tinsel, and handed off to some guy she didn't know. She just wished she had a choice in the matter.

He father often let get out of the never-ending lessons. He let her go riding, let her learn how to juggle and tumbling from the jester, and even read something other than about etiquette.

What Raqueljiz wanted was an adventure. She wanted to save the world, like the people in her books, though she felt like it never would because, unfortunately, however much her father let her get away with, he still wanted her to get married. He even set it up.

They had some wealthy neighbors, the Crointers. They had wanted to get a hold on their property for years, and this was how they were going to do it.

When the news came that Raqueljiz was to marry the oldest son of the Crointers, her mother went crazy. She had her scrubbed until skin came off, rolled her hair, and put her in a gown that was so stiff, she nearly suffocated.

All Raqueljiz could do was hope the guy wasn't to boring.

On the big night, when Raqueljiz was to be betrothed, they arrived, and she felt like she was having shackles put on her. Her hair was a heavy weight, and her dress was too hot. She looked ahead into the reception line; found the man she was to marry. He was twice her age.

I'm thirteen! She thought. I don't want to get married! Especially to that!

He saw the look she was giving him, and returned it with a leer. Her heart stopped.

Suddenly, every object not bolted down in the room went flying around the room. People screamed, and ran around in panic. Most of those objects tried to hit the young Lord Crointer.

Raqueljiz felt exhausted, and fainted.

When she woke up, she found herself in a sitting room. Her father was raging about her having the Mage gift, and how were they going to work out the marriage without everyone finding out?

However, Raqueljiz heard the rest of this only vaguely. I have the Mage gift! She thought. What in the twelve hells am I doing here?

She sat there patiently, waiting for her father to finish his tirade, working out a plan. Her dress tonight was covered in gems. That would give her the money that she needed to do what she was planning.

When her father stopped bemoaning the fate of the betrothal, and left, Raqueljiz sneaked out the door. Making sure she wasn't being watched, she found a tailors room, stole his clothes, and ripped out a good piece of her dress. Leaving that, she got to the kitchens, stole some food, and ran to the stables. She didn't steal a horse, but went out through that exit, and went to find a mage school.

The closest she knew of was the Blue Mountain School. Finding it, she became Rachel, and started her apprenticeship.

Marco once lived in a village at the border of the Pelegris Forest. He, his mother and father had lived a happy life there. Very few creatures of the poisoned lands of the Pelegris had ever come there, and most thought none ever would.

They were wrong.

One night, in the cold of winter, a pack of glowing _wyrsa_, animals that looked like a cross between dogs, snakes and weasels, attacked, and killed most of the villagers. Marco had been eight.

He had been getting water for supper, and he heard an eerie howling. He didn't know what it was. Both his parents had been inside the house, and if he had been in there with them, he would have been killed.

The _wyrsa_ had come from the direction of the village, and had entered from the front. Marco heard his parents' scream. Then he heard them yell for him to run.

Marco didn't understand what was going on. He wanted to go to his Mom and Dad, but they were telling him to go, to run. So he did. He dropped his bucket, and ran. He went deep into the forest, and got lost. As it got darker, Marco wondered where he was. No one he knew had ever gone far into the woods like this. He was scared.

He walked for hours, and was very cold. Snow lay on the ground nearly a foot thick. Finally, sad, frightened, and completely lost, he sat down in the snow, and cried.

He didn't know how long he had been there, when he heard a strange hooting. He looked up, and the largest owl he had ever seen looked back at him. He was so surprised by the way the owl looked back at him that he forgot to cry.

Then, Marco heard the sound of footsteps. He turned around, and a strange looking man with white hair walked over to him. He put his arm up, and the owl flew to him, and perched on his shoulder. Marco gaped.

"So," said the strange man," you are the last survivor. The only one I have found."

He said this in a language Marco didn't know, but he said it in a way that Marco trusted. The man, named Moonowl, took him back to his Vale, a home of the Tayledras Clan k'Sheyna.

Marco learned the language of the Moonowl, and was adopted into the Clan. Though he had no skills as a mage, Marco grew up wanting to be a scout, like Moonowl, who had adopted him. He learned the ways of the forest, archery, and fighting, so he could give something back to the Clan that had saved him.

He eventually took the use-name Trickster, because of his love of practical, and corny, jokes. He bonded to a hawk-eagle, and became a true Hawkbrother, at last. 

Aximili shena Lirha'Irden was a member of the Shin'a'in Clan, the Deer Sibs. He loved the open plains, and loved being one of the free people living there. He had a brother who was his idol. His name was Elgor. He was a great warrior. He had left the Plains to see the world before Aximili had been born. Soon after, he had become a Kal'enedral, one of the Goddess Kalanel's Sword Sworn. The word actually meant Her Sword Bothers or Children of Her Sword. They were the best fighters of the Shin'a'in, but they paid a price that many were unable to pay. They became completely sexless, celibate. They alone could take up blood feud, but it could never be with another Shin'a'in. They followed the Lady's will for the rest of their lives. 

Elgor would often leave the Plains and return, and tell Aximili stories of where he had gone. Ax enjoyed these stories, and wanted to travel like his brother. 

All Shin'a'in learned the sword, but Aximili wanted to be great. He trained his own horse by the time he was eight, and passed his adult test by the time he was nine. He was ready to become a warrior.

Well, his parents told him. Maybe later.

Every year he and his family made a trip to the trade city, Kata'shin'a'in. He would go and see the strange clothing that the OutClan would wear, and try their strange food. It was a yearly adventure.

On the way back to the Dorisha Plains, or the Plains of Sacrifice, they would go visit the Kin-Cousins, the Hawkbrothers. It was just something that they did.

Tobias grew up in a mountain hamlet in Karse. Every year, they had what was called the Feast of the Children, where priests of the Sungod Vkandis would come and test the children of an area for Mage gift.

Tobias had been overlooked for years. They only tested children from ages eight to twelve. Besides, nobody cared what happened to Tobias anyway. His mother had sired him by some unknown stranger. Rumors even said a Shin'a'in, but who believed rumors? Tobias didn't even look like a proper Karsite, with his blond hair and blue eyes. Karsites were supposed to be dark.

Then, one year, a man in a black robe came to test the children. Tobias was eleven then. He had become certain that all the Feast would ever mean for him was some candy after being looked over by the Priest.

This year, they grabbed him out of the line, and took him to the Temple. 

He felt strange, there, but was mentored by a kindly old Priest, who taught him to love learning. He learned to use his God given ability with magic to summon the demons that black robe Priests used to protect the people of Karse. He grew skilled.

Chapter Two

Aximili had been making the trip to Kata'shin'a'in for years now. Nothing ever changed there. True, sometimes the faces were different, but over all, not enough to be interesting.

Aximili was now seventeen summers. He had yet to grow into his gangly arms and legs. He was a good rider by Shin'a'in standards, which meant he was phenomenal by any one else's. He looked like a typical Shin'a'in, with gold skin from constant exposure to the sun, black hair that had an uncharacteristic curl to it, and blue eyes. He looked strangely pretty.

On the way back from the Fair this year, they camped a bit earlier than usual. This year his brother had come with them, which made it more interesting. 

It came without warning. There was a roaring, like none they had ever heard before. A large insect looking thing hovered above them. Then another followed it. All they could do was stare. 

"What kind of demon is this?" Ax whispered. He was frozen in place.

Suddenly, a bolt of lightening shot from one of the demons. It hit his brother, who had shoved him out of the way. Nothing else was left but ashes.

"Goddess, NO!" his father screamed, as they dodged further bolts. Them, the demons landed, and disgorged strange creatures, so odd Aximili thought they had to be from the Pelegris. Some looked like giant worms, the other like a walking collection of swords. They held objects that shot out lightening, too.

The next bolt hit his father, and he, too, was gone. Aximili got his mother, and they ran. They got to their horses, and galloped away.

They almost made it. A stray blast took his mother's horse out from under her. She fell. He tried to go back for her, but she urged him away. He looked back one last time, to see her being eaten by the giant worms.

Then he rode away.

He was half-mad with thirst and hunger by the time he made it back to his Clan. They helped him from his horse, and brought a Healer. While they ministered to him, he rambled out his story. A rescue team was sent to see what happened. All they found was scorched earth.

They reluctantly concluded that what had really happened was thieves had assaulted them, and Aximili had made up everything else trying to get back. When they told him this, Aximili reacted violently.

"I **know** what I saw, Shaman," he yelled. "I know what happened before I got back. If you can't, or won't, do anything, then I will! I cry blood feud."

"You can't, child. You are not sworn to the Goddess," she responded.

He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. "Then that is what I will do. I wish to take the Oath."

The Healer and the Shaman looked at each other. They seemed to hold a silent conversation.

"So be it," the Shaman finally intoned. "If the Goddess accepts your Oath, then do as She wills you."

Aximili nodded, a choppy gesture, and headed for the tent shrine.

For a race of nomads, the tent shrines had to be simple. At each wall was an altar for each aspect of the Goddess. On the East, was the altar to the Maiden, with a single flower, on the west, for the Mother, a sheaf of grain, and on the altar for the Crone, a smooth, black stone. Then, on the South, was the altar to the Warrior. Before this one, he knelt, and began his prayer.

From all directions, a wind came, and swathed him in the numbness he would need to cope with the following months. Then, from behind him, he heard someone say his name.

The Goddess had answered him, in Her own Person.

When he came out of the tent, you could tell he was different. Gone was the boy he had been. In his place stood an inhumanly calm man. All Shin'a'in grew their hair long. His was now shoulder length, and there had been nothing to cut it with in the tent.

He left at dawn. He had already trained with a warsteed, and took her along with him. They gave him the traditional black chain mail and clothes, and sent him silently on his way. It was forbidden to say anything to him.

When Ax found the place where the killing had happened, he realized powerful magic had to be involved. He needed information, and he could get it from the Kin-Cousins.

That night, after he had made himself a cold camp, he fell asleep. The next thing he knew, someone was shaking him roughly. 

"Arise, Sworn One, and arm yourself."

Ax scrambled to his feet, with his sword in hand. He had been the best among his age group. This man in a black veil, dressed a Sworn One, killed him in less than two moves. He felt the blade go through his neck, and-

He awoke, staring at the stars.

"Your not bad, for a half lame duck," he heard a voice say form behind him. Aximili whirled around, and again they fought. The veiled man killed him four more times. 

He awoke the next morning, feeling refreshed. He wondered if it had all been a dream. Then he saw his weapons and armor. They were arranged differently than how he had left them. 

Every night after, the veiled ones came to him, and taught him the ways of the sword better than he could ever dream. During the day, a strange force seemed to guide his hand and eye, teaching him how to find the best trails, and how to find game.

Despite how well he had tracked so far, he quickly was lost under the huge, ancient trees. He stopped, and dismounted, trying to find his bearings, when he heard the shriek of a hawk-eagle.

The looked up in time to see a piece of the tree canopy move. He jumped.

"Welcome, Cousin," said the voice of the scout. Although the scout was standing directly in front of him, he had trouble making him out. The clothing he wore was mottled greens and browns, which made him fade into the background of everything he stood before. Aximili thought the voice sounded familiar.

He pulled out a medallion used for identification between Clans.

"I am Aximili shena Lirha'Irden."

"I thought I recognized you. It's me, Trickster. How, by the Lady, did you become a Kal'enedral?" asked Trickster. He had seen his dark clothes.

"My family was killed by magic. I need to find out what kind it was."

"I'll take you to the Vale. Star-Eyed, why were you wandering around like an Outlander?"

They talked about old times on the way there. They had met every year on Aximili's yearly trip. While they had never become good friends, they knew each other. 

Trickster led the way, leading them through the underbrush with ease. Aximili envied the way he knew how to find his way with seeing the sky. 

Aximili had not been Sworn long enough for his teachers to have taught him the finer points of scouting yet, so when Trickster spun around and loosed an arrow, he was caught flat footed.

They heard a shout from where the arrow landed. Notching another arrow, Trickster called to Siath, and he went to the source of the shriek. Noiselessly, he launched himself up into the trees. The next thing Ax saw was a tall, blond haired Outlander backing away from Trickster's drawn bow.

"Outlander," he said in the most common of the trade tongues," You have crossed into Tayledras territory. Tell me why you are here, and I will let you live."

It was obvious that the woman understood what was being said. Aximili saw that she wore the robes of a mage, but was wearing a sword. This was odd, because of the demands of both disciplines, very few people would undertake such a thing.

"I am here to find the Hawkbrothers," she replied defiantly. "I want to learn

their magic. I am not here to hurt anyone."

Trickster snorted. "I doubt that you could. Leave, Outlander. This is not your place."

"I can't," she replied, frustrated.

This time Aximili spoke. "Why?"

"I'm lost," she answered, looking sheepish.

Trickster held his head. "Bright Lady, why me? All right, mage. You can come, but the minute you show yourself to be a threat to Tayledras lands, I will shoot you, understand?"

She didn't look happy about it, but she nodded in affirmation.

"I am Trickster k'Sheyna, and this is Aximili shena Lirha'Irden. We are on our way to the k'Sheyna Vale. May we know your name?" he said, and put out his hand to be clasped.

"My name is Rachel. Thank you, but I might have done more damage than you think I could."

Trickster just shrugged, and motioned for them to follow. Rachel had a pony, and mounting it, she accompanied them.

To both Rachel's and Ax's surprise, Trickster started going from branch to branch, using the trees as a path. From there, they quickly made it to the Vale.

Rachel looked at the Veil, the magical barrier that protected the Vale, in wonder.

"I would kill to learn how to use my magic like that," she murmured to herself, when they entered.

Trickster's eyes went blank, and his bondbird went off, and he told them," Ax, I have sent Siath to call the Elders of the Clan to see what we can do to help you. They will also be asked to make a decision about you, Rachel."

"Great," she said sarcastically. 

He led them to a cave, and they waited. Then, they were called out.

A large circle of people, all of them with white hair, and a feeling of great age stood around a table.

Finally, one stood up.

"We have heard what young Trickster has to say. We have come to a decision. My name is Jethra shena Tale' sedrin of the Shin'a'in. I have the ability called Foresight. When I heard Trickster's tale, I had a vision, one of you three fighting together against a great enemy. You, and three others. Aximili, the ones you have cried blood feud with, you are to fight with the rest of the young people in my vision to stop this enemy. All of you must unite, the way that you did before, to stop those who would despoil our world."

Chapter three

"That was weird."

"Tell me about it."

"You know, Marco, this whole thing about us working together has me getting the willies, you know?"

Trickster stiffened, the sound of his old name stirring something in his mind, but quickly fading.

"I never told you my birth name," he said quietly. "How did you know it?"

"Huh? I don't know what you're talking about. I called you Trickster."

"No, you called me by my birth name, Marco."

She looked a little confused. "Yeah, I think I did. I don't know why, it just seemed right at the time."

Trickster gave her a strange look. "You know, I feel like I should know you form someplace."

"Me, too."

They looked at each other uncomfortably for a minute, then both shrugged.

"It's got to be my imagination," he finally said.

"Yeah, just our imaginations."

Aximili sat at the edge of the Vale as night approached. The moon rose, and he could feel the arrival of his teacher. He turned to face him.

Ax drew his sword. He and his teacher fought, and fought. Unlike other times, this fight was not won easily by the veiled one. Ax had been a good learner.

Finally, Ax "killed" him.

"Well done, younger brother. You have earned some questions, which I expect is weighing on your mind."

"Who are you?"

Ax could feel is teacher smiling, although he couldn't see it.

"I am your fate. I was once Sworn, like you. I served the Lady in life, and now that I am dead, I serve her still. You will join our ranks, should you be a Kal'enedral at the time of your death. Do you wish to keep your vow? The Lady will not hold you if you do not wish to remain."

Ax said," I will keep my Oath. Now, why am I to bring these others with me on my vengeance? It is my battle alone."

"Because," then the veiled one paused. "Because you have fought this same battle with them before. Don't you remember, Andalite?"

He knew. Ax knew who he had been, with out any kind of fanfare, his memories returned, and he knew who he had been. 

"I was an _aristh_," he simply said. Then the shock hit.

Trembling, he sat down at the base of a tree. He never noticed when his teacher left. He went to find the others, and see if they remembered anything.

He found them in one of the Hawkbrother tree houses. They were talking about the trail they would take, and how they were going to find the others. The way they got along, he realized they didn't remember who they had been. If they had, they would be arguing, he thought, and realized he now had a sense of humor. A human sense of humor. It wasn't as if he had jumped into this body. He was still the person he had been, and now was. There was no separation between the two. He was himself, just changed.

He called," Hello Marco, Rachel. When shall we leave to find the other Animorphs?"

They turned to look at him like he was insane.

"Horse-boy, has taking the Oath driven you mad?" asked Marco, and then he stared. His mouth opened and shut several times. The same thing was happening to Rachel.

"Yeah, we do need to find them, don't we?" said Rachel, weakly.

"Hey Rachel," Marco interjected. "Why aren't you in the whole body armor thing? That would be more your thing than a mage."

"That's a long story," she sighed, and sat down. 

Marco and Ax did the same thing. They all started laughing.

The Animorphs had come to the world of Velgarth, and they had started their war on the Yeerks.

Comments? Chain letters? Smoke signs?


	2. The Gathering Storm

****

A Different Path 2: The Gathering Storm

Disclaimer: Animorphs belongs to Scholastic, and the Heralds of Valdemar belong to Mercedes Lackey. I make no money from this.

Chapter One

Rachel, Marco and Ax sat together in the Tayledras tree house, and tried to come up with a plan to find the missing members of their team. They had no way of knowing where they were. 

They had barely remembered who they had been but a few hours ago. Ax had been told by his spirit teachers, the veiled ones. He had gone and told his friends, and they had remembered. It had been something of a shock.

It wasn't the way someone would have imagined. It wasn't like finding out that you were living a lie, or that you were really a totally different person. It had been as if they had remembered an event from childhood. Like suddenly remembering an old Christmas. The people they had become were no less valid. They were one and the same. 

Ax was Aximili, a member of the Clan of the Deer Sibs. Marco had become Trickster k'Sheyna, a scout in the Uncleansed Lands. Rachel was Raqueljiz of House Erstograth. The people they were now weren't false. They were who they would have become if they had lived there all their lives. Which, in an odd way, they had. They simply knew who they had been. 

Still, it took some getting used to.

Ax still had trouble believing that his friends could do anything besides argue. While they had differences of opinion, they had gotten along fine.

"We should leave the Pelegris no matter where they are," said Marco. "Judging from the range of backgrounds we have here, I think there is a good chance that they were born into different kingdoms as well."

He was leaned over a map, and looking at the various countries depicted. Rachel was standing next to him, in her sorceress' robes.

She nodded. "I agree with that, at least. I just wish I knew where to start looking. I mean, they could be anywhere. They could be in Rethwellan, Karse, or even Iftel. I came from Jkartha. This isn't like the old days, when all you had to do was type in a word search on the Internet."

Ax felt a strange grimace pull at his teeth at the mention of the "old days". 

In the old days, the thought of being human for the rest of his life would have been unpleasant, to say the least. Now, he wasn't sure he would have wanted to become an Andalite again even if he could. He was Shin'a'in now, born and bred. Other than his form, he hadn't lost anything. His life now was so much richer than the technologically bound society that he had been a member of in his old life. As a member of the People of the Plains, the nomads of the Plains of Sacrifice, he had learned that technology didn't make a people intelligent, or civilized. He had faith, now, and a purpose beyond what he had known. He was happy, even after loosing his family to the Yeerks, declaring blood feud, and taking the Oath of the Sword Sworn; he was happy. 

He wondered what is brother would have thought of that.

He looked at the map Rachel and Marco were poring over, and started to think about transportation. They would need good horses, gear, and provisions. They would also need more of a sense of direction. Knowing that you had to find someone didn't make him or her any easier to find. Jake, Cassie and Tobias could be anywhere. Well, he could do something about the horses, anyway.

Looking up, he interjected, "Rachel, you'll need something better than that little pony that you came on, and Marco, you will need a horse, period. Do you know how to ride?"

Marco nodded. "I'm not like you, but I have learned how to ride some of the _dyheli._"

"Rachel?"

"I'm not the best, but, yeah, I can ride. Since we can't morph, and I am not strong enough in my mage craft to make a gate, a horse would be good."

"Done, I'll get you war-steeds."

"_What?"_" they exclaimed in unison.

War steeds never left Shin'a'in hands. Only those who were of the blood, or had sworn into the Clans could ride one. If you ever stole one, you would have been killed before you set a saddle on the horse's back, if the horse didn't kill you itself.

"I want you to get war steeds. We are going against Yeerks, without the morphing power. We need the best we can get. You won't need to train that long with them, and I can teach you the finer points while on the road. I doubt either of you could stay on a war steed in a fight, but they can defend you just as well from the ground. I am getting you war steeds."

They still looked at him like he was crazy. Well, he was a Shin'a'in. 

Ax walked down the steps from the tree house, the _ekele_, and went to work getting things ready for their quest.

Inside the _ekele_, Trickster and Rachel just stood.

"He's changed," said Rachel, sounding sad.

"Yes, he has. In a good way. So have you," commented Marco.

"Really?" she sighed, and raked her fingers through her pony-tail. She didn't sound happy.

Trickster looked at her sharply. The tone of her voice sounded strange.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Just, well, I was thinking about Tobias. I wonder how he has changed. I'm a Journeyman sorceress, you're a Hawkbrother, and acting responsibly, for once. What will he be like? I mean…" she trailed off.

"I know," he answered. "I can hardly believe that I actually like climbing trees, fighting, and being a scout. I remember goofing off and I can't understand how I could have ever been that young. Maybe because I have lived in the Vale for so long, I don't know. I just know that I am shocked to the coldest hell that you are a mage, and not some sword swinging wild Amazon person. I work with several of the type, and you would have fit right in."

"Yeah, well, I was born with the name Raqueljiz of Estrogath. I was a noble, and my parents were going to marry me of to the highest bidder. On the night of my betrothal, I had a magic fit, and ran away. I just had to leave. I trained there for a while. Last spring I left on my journeyman period. I was given this sword before I left. Her name is Need. She's a geas blade, and to a mage that she chooses she gives the ability of the best swordsman known. To a female fighter, she gives complete immunity to magic. She will heal me of anything short of a death wound. The only trade off is that I have to help any woman in trouble that comes along. While that part can be a hassle, it is worth the trade," but her eyes were shadowed.

"What's the part that you aren't telling me?" asked Marco.

Rachel sighed. Marco may not have had any mage gifts, but he was much better at reading people now.

"I have been pulled into help a few girls, now. I got to see some pretty ghastly things. I went through a war zone, and saw what was left behind. The looting, the rape, the murder, just made me realize how much I disliked fighting. When our memories came back, I remembered liking the rush of battle. I was always the one to head in first. Now, now, I get sick at the thought, and we have to do it again. You're right. I have changed." 

She expected Marco to make a typical Marco comment about how Mighty Xena had fallen. She braced for it, and when it didn't come, she nearly fell over.

"I understand," was all he said.

"You've changed, too."

Rachel and Trickster sat across the table from each other, and just stared.

Ax went down into the Vale, and found one of the lizard people, the _hertasi, _to request supplies. Then, he searched for one of the mages to contact his Clan. They would have the horses here within a few days. Now, all they had to do was wait. 

Chapter Two

Tobias was now to the robe level of Black.

He was a demon summoner.

It was not an easy ability. It required a great deal of will on the part of the priest, and he had to be careful how he used it. You had to make certain that no one was within range when one released the Horde. All it knew was a sense of ravening hunger, and when it scented blood, it could go out beyond control.

His mentor, an old Yellow robe named Karthis, was a good, pious man. When the rest of the students had shunned him, he had found a friend in his mentor. He had learned scholarly skills as well, and was given access to the full library in of the Temple.

Life had been gone normally for a new priest, up until one day, when he was seventeen. 

He woke up before dawn, to go to the sunrise worship. He found something very strange at the end of his bed.

A Firecat.

Firecats were direct manifistations of the Sunlord's will. They were priests that had opted for rebirth in the form of a Cat to continue their service to Vkandis.

Tobias bolted up, and stared.

His mouth hung open.

: Well, you look like you saw a ghost.: came a cheerful mind voice.

"I, uh, well, um, are you a Firecat?" was the smartest thing he could think to say.

: Last time I checked.: the Cat responded.

"What- what are you, are you-" Tobias stuttered.

: Doing here?: finished the Cat. : I was sent, of course. Not everyone gets Firecats, young Tobias. I am here to give you advice, and help you on your mission.:

"Mission?" Tobias repeated, feeling like a fool. 

:Yes. You have a job to do. Oh, don't look at me like that. I'm not saying that you have some sort of predestined path ahead of you. That is hogwash, but Vkandis has seen that there is the potential for you to do something very important to help the world. So, young Priest, your God needs you. Will you answer?:

What could he do but agree?

Tobias and the Cat went to see the Son of the Sun. That is the title given to the high Priest of Vkandis. 

With the Cat at his side, there was no question about him seeing the Son. Tobias was let in without any difficulty, and they spoke to the High Priest. 

: Like I told this young man, Sunborn, he needs to go. I am to help him find the others that he is to help. Once he is reunited with his fellows, he will regain that which he had lost, and be able to help them save the world. It is necessary.:

For a while, the Son argued with the Cat, but in the end, it was as futile as any argument with a cat. He got his way.

The next day, without fanfare, he left Sunhame. It had been his home for several years now. The pain of leaving was more than he had expected. He was leaving the only place where he had had nominal exceptance. In his old hamlet, he had been mocked without pity. Now, he was going back out into the world, alone.

: Not alone,: came the voice of the giant red and cream colored Cat beside him. : You may not remember yet, because I can't give those memories back, but you have me, and you are going to meet some old friends.:

Tobias looked at the Cat questioningly. This was not the first time he had alluded to his meeting with someone he already knew. He just would have to wait.

They set off, Tobias on a mule, the Cat, named Jtath, riding on a pad behind the saddle.

Chapter Three

Jake and Cassie had been considered a 'couple' for as long as they had known each other. They had a strong life bond. They had moved into adjoining quarters after they had turned fifteen, and had gotten married by the time they were sixteen. While both knew that duty would always come first, their relationship was enduring. Nothing could break that.

Reports had been coming in from the Border about a strange enemy from the East.

Flying enemies from the air, creatures that could have only come from the Pelegris, and magic that had never been seen before. They had to find out who this new enemy was, and fast, before the Kingdoms of the West were destroyed.

Jake was at the salle when he was called into see the Dean of the Collegium. 

The Dean was an old gray haired man. He reminded Jake of an owl. 

"Jake," he said, after Jake knocked on the door. 

"Sir," he responded.

He grimaced. "I suppose that you have heard the reports we have been getting from the Borders of Iftel and Hardorn?"

"I've heard rumors, sir, but nothing to confirm them."

The Dean snorted. "I know the rumor mill of the Collegium, Jake. Sadly enough, most of them are accurate. We have no idea what those things _are,_ and that scares all of us, Heralds, Council, and Queen. You have been chosen to go as a member of the staff of the ambassadorial party we are sending to Rethwellan to inquire about these things. As a result of this emergency, we are bumping you up to full Herald."

Jake was sure he couldn't have heard that right.

"I know this has to be something of a shock, but all your teachers agree, and I put it before the Heraldic Circle, and they agree as well, that you would have gone on your internship in a few months anyway. You will do this in lieu of an internship. You have a talent for this, Jake."

Jake recovered from his paralysis, and responded," I am honored, sir. I can't wait to tell-" He stopped abruptly, realizing that Cassie would not be going with him.

"Don't worry, she's going with you. That little griffin would do a lot to convince people to take us seriously. She will also be bumped up to full Greens later today. You will be leaving tomorrow morning. Your Heraldic whites will be in your room. I'm sorry that we couldn't give you more notice than that. You need to start getting ready to go. Dismissed."

Nodding, Jake left, then ran to his quarters.

He saw a large pile of white clothes on his and Cassie's bed. Feeling proud, he mind spoke his Companion, Blazar.

: Well, my friend, it seems that I have gotten an unexpected promotion.:

: Yes, I heard from the Dean's Companion. Congratulations.:

: You don't sound so happy, Blazar.:

:I'm worried about the circumstances that led to this. We have a long journey ahead of us.:

Jake grimaced. He had thought of that. : Tell Downy. Have her tell Cassie. We'll need to talk about this tonight, and get ready for whatever will happen.:

Blazar snorted in his mind. : Yes, General Jake, whatever you say, General Jake.:

Sighing, Jake severed the mind-link. 

When Cassie got back that night, she was wearing Greens. He felt so proud for her that he could nearly burst.

She looked back at him admiringly. "Whites suit you," she said, and walked over to him, and gave him a hug.

Kissing her, he answered," You haven't looked more beautiful."

She batted at him playfully. "Flatter. Anyway, you know that I will get bird poop on it eventually. Or something worse. I don't care what I'm wearing when I get called to the Healing temple."

Seriously, Jake replied," Clothes aside, do you know why we were promoted?"

She nodded. "We're going to Rethwellen."

"I'm worried," he said into her shoulder. "We don't know what we're facing. That scares me, and yet, I feel like this has happened before. That worries me even more."

"Yeah," she mumbled. 

He pulled away from her in surprise. "You too?"

She nodded.

"Well, all we can do is wait, right?"

Downy, the griffin, came in and answered for her.

"Rrrriight."

Two days later, they were on the road. They had a pack train with them, and those riding Companions were keeping their pace down for the sake of those on normal horses.

Chapter Four

Rachel, Marco, and Ax had left the Vale a week ago, on their gray mottled war steeds. Rachel and Trickster had gotten the minimal training to stay on, but both knew that in a fight, they would have to get off in a hurry.

Stopping for the night, Trickster commented," You know, I think it would have been nice if the shaman who had told us that we had to leave would have given us better directions."

Rachel groaned in agreement. She was not used to being in a saddle for long.

Ax looked at them in amusement. "One would hardly think that our races where related, the way you carry on, Marco."

Trickster sighed. "I'm adopted, remember? Besides, I had a point. You realize that the whole world is a big place, and they could be anywhere in it."

"You do realize, don't you, that we found each other, even when you weren't of the blood, and Rachel is an Outlander." 

"Okay, you've made your point."

"Dear god," Rachel exclaimed. "Ax made a joke."

"Go to sleep,' he replied.

She got out her bedroll, and lay down fully clothed. The weather had been damp recently.

Trickster had first watch. He sent Siath out to hunt, and settled in for the night.

Ax woke up, in time for his watch. This was the time that his teachers came, and one of them would keep watch when he was training.

He had progressed to the point that he was fighting groups, with various weapons. 

As the session progressed to an ending, his head teacher came to him, and he said, "Trickster had a valid question. It would be wise if you headed south, toward Karse, while your allies go to Rethwellen. You will find your friends, and more, besides. While in a city, we will not come to you, but we will train you, any night that you do not spend within walls."

He awoke the next morning, and told his friends what he had learned.

"I am, apparently, to go to Karse, while you go to Rethwellen. I wish I knew whom we were going to find, and what this 'more' my teacher spoke of was."

"You and me both," said Rachel. "Well, at least I get to go back to civilization."

The so-called 'barbarians' just grinned.

They separated the next morning. Ax started to Karse, and Rachel and Trickster to Rethwellen.

Marco was up first, doing his daily warm-ups. In the 'old days' such a thought would have been foreign to him. Now, he couldn't imagine being without it.

Ax joined him a little while later, and for a good part of the morning, the worked out. Rachel got up, and started doing stretches of her own.

When all was said and done, they worked together to make breakfast, and started breaking down the camp. Then, silently, they went their separate ways.

Rachel and Marco went along in silence for a good part of the morning. The day was cool, but not unpleasantly so, and foggy. It was not weather that invited conversation. 

Finally, Rachel spoke up. 

"Do you know the way to Rethwellen?"

"No, but the map said if we stayed on this road, we'd eventually get to the Capital."

"Do we know that we need to go to the Capital? I mean, what if they aren't there."

Marco looked pained. "I don't know, Rachel. It's in the hands of the Goddess, now. Take it on faith."

Rachel felt a little affronted at his curt reply, and fell silent.

It was a long trip.

As they neared their destination, however, they started to loosen up to each other. They would talk about the 'old days' with the Animorphs, and laugh about old jokes. It surprised both of them that they got along so well. 

Then, on the 12th day after they had left Ax, Need woke up.

It started with a slight headache. Trickster even teased her about it. It grew from there into a sharp ache, then to a blinding pain, so she could hardly see straight.

"Trickster, will you shut up!" she yelled at him, as his teasing went too far.

Oddly enough, he sounded repentant when he said," Sorry. I'll send Siath ahead to look for whoever it is needs you help."

His eyes went blank, and his bond bird sprung from his shoulder. He gained altitude, and flew off.

"There is a convoy about a half mile away. A group of people on white horses, in white clothes. There are some others, as well. They-" Rachel saw him squint, as if he didn't believe what he was seeing,"- are being attacked by a group of Taxxons and Hork-Bajir."

Rachel hesitated. "Let's do it," she said softly, like she didn't mean it.

Marco nodded, and notched an arrow. Urging their horses forward, they galloped into the fray.

Rachel closed her eyes briefly, reaching out to the nearest ley-line. It was close, and she spun magic power from it easily. Gathering the threads up, she formed it into a levin bolt, and threw it directly into the midst of the Taxxons cornering the people.

While she was doing this, Trickster had sent Siath to attack the eyes of the Hork-Bajir. He loosed arrow after arrow into their ranks. There were just too many of them.

Both Rachel and Marco dismounted, and slapped their horses' rumps. They plunged forward, and started doing damage with their teeth and hooves, like the white horses where already doing.

Rachel again grabbed at nearby power, and made a shield to protect the human wounded. Marco took out the climbing tool that every scout used. It was hooked on one end, with a sharp spike on the other. He started using it to good advantage. The people in white rallied, and they rushed to their side, swords and other weapons swinging.

Then, a griffin joined them. It had a meat hook on its face for a beak, and used it well. Soon, all the Controllers were dead or dying. 

"Thanks," said a large, dark haired young man in white.

"Your welcome," Marco replied, and did a double take.

"Jake?"

"Yes? Huh? How do you know my name?" said the puzzled Herald.

"Well, believe it or not, you and I go way back."

"Rachel! Get over here!" Trickster called.

"Who are you?" asked Jake, sounding unnerved. 

"My name is Trickster k'Sheyna. You can call me Marco."

"That name sounds kind of familiar, for some reason…"

Rachel had been helping with the healing of the women who were there, with Need's assistance. She had gotten around, lightening the load of the Healers that were there. She came around to one woman, who was tending to the wounds of a lady who had been hurt, and a Taxxon had started eating on her. Rachel bared her teeth in a grimace. She had seen too much of that.

She leaned over, and handed the sword to the injured lady. Her moaning stopped when weapon was placed in her hands.

"Thank you," said the exhausted Healer.

"Any time. All part of the service," she answered, trying to sound flippant.

Marco called her. She turned to see what he wanted, and felt her knees go weak with shock. He was talking to Jake!

She started to stumble over, when a shoulder got itself under her arm. Looking down, she saw the same Healer she had helped earlier. It took her a few seconds for her shocked brain to register that the face of the person who was helping her, belonged to Cassie.

Rachel continued walking, but it was only habit that had kept her so.

Finally reaching them, Cassie turned her loose. She stiffened her knees to keep from falling.

"Whoa. I guess we won't need to get to the capital after all," she mumbled.

"Yeah," Marco added.

"What are you talking about?" Jake complained.

"What's wrong, love?" Cassie whispered, worried.

"Well," Trickster said brightly. "You guys used to be fellow Animorphs. We fought the evil Yeerks that wanted to take over our world, and-"

"Enter our ears," Rachel continued. "They flatten themselves out, and wrap themselves around our brains, and take over our minds."

"You were our leader, Prince Jake," finished Marco.

Cassie and Jake looked at them like they needed to make an immediate visit to a mind Healer.

Then, their memories came back.

Both of them looked like they had been hit in the back of the head with a board.

As they stood there, gaping, a large white horse and the griffin came over, while Siath landed on Trickster's shoulder.

: What is it, Chosen?: asked Blazar.

: Nothing is wrong, brother. No, everything is right.:

The griffin crooned to Cassie.

"Well, Marco, I still think Spider-man could kick Batman's rear any day." He grinned.

"Rachel!" exclaimed Cassie, and gave her a hug.

Friends reunited spoke madly at once, trying to get reacquainted all at once. The rest of the Heralds began to notice.

"Herald Jake," said the head ambassador quietly. "What is going on?"

She flinched back as Jake the Herald wasn't the same Jake any more. The sense of age about him increased. He took on the aspect of a seasoned leader. While he had never been an innocent, he never had had the look of many battles won, and lost, etched in his face.

He was the same, yet different.

Blazar again asked,: Chosen, what is the matter?:

Wordlessly, he opened his mind to his Companion. He showed him who he had been, and had once again become.

: You will always be my Chosen, Jake. I will always be there to help you, no matter what. I love you, and will never leave you.:

Heartened by that, Jake began to explain what had happened to the convoy leader.

At first, she didn't want to believe his story. Aliens from other worlds? Brain stealing slugs? It was all too strange to be believed.

Yet, the proof was dead at her feet. Slugs had wriggled out of the ears of the monsters that had attacked them. They had used weapons that couldn't have come from anything but magic, and from the technical way they looked, she could concede that they were made using science. This was far worse than just mere invaders from the east. They had to tell the Queen, and every other nation, as well.

Barking orders, she separated her party into two groups. She sent one to tell the Rethwellens what had happened, with one of the fallen weapons as evidence. She and the Animorphs, as Jake had called himself and his friends, prepared to go back to Have, and tell the Queen as soon as they were within range of the nearest Far-Speakers. 

They got the wounded patched up as best they could, and sent them on to the capital, which was closer. Mounting up, they started on the road back to Valdemar.

Jake, Cassie, Rachel and Marco began to get to know each other once again, starting with the news that Cassie and Jake were married.

"So you two traded primaries? Congratulations!" Trickster exclaimed.

"Huh?" everyone chorused.

"Sorry," he muttered. Louder, he went on "Trading primary feathers from your bond bird is the Hawkbrother marriage ceremony."

"Oh."

"Any body know where Tobias and Ax are?" Jake asked them.

Rachel nodded. "Ax is a Kal'enedral. He's a Shin'a'in. He met us first. As of now, he is going to Karse, we think, to find Tobias. We were told to do to Rethwellen."

Cassie looked at little confused. She was leaned against Jake and Downy was making a backrest for both of them. Blazar was on the ground across from them. "Who told you that? I mean, we didn't know we would be here until a week ago."

Trickster told her, "We were told by Ax's teachers, the spirit Kal'enedral."

Jake's and Cassie's eyes went huge at that statement.

"You mean ghosts teach the Sworn Ones?"

Trickster shook his head. "They are not ghosts. They are spirits that were once living Sworn Ones. They teach after their deaths."

"You are taking this a lot more calmly than I would," Jake said, almost accusingly.

"Well, I am Tayledras, and Rachel is a mage. We kind of got used to it."

"This, is just so weird."

"Tell me about it."

Chapter Five

Ax had been traveling and training as went on his way to Karse. As he went, he was fascinated by the OutClan that he met on his way. He had trouble imaging living such lives. How could they stand being in buildings, when the wind was calling your name?

He stopped for the night in a small town, on the Karse/Valdemar border. He chose an inn, stabled his mare, and made sure his weapons were loose. This was one of the few times he wished he had all of his old eyes.

Immediately, when he entered the common room, a hush descended. The effect of his black clothes and weapons had got him fast service.

Sitting at a bench at the end of the tables, he ordered some wine, stew and bread. He was scanning the room, but hadn't gotten a good look at his seat mate.

The food came, and almost stuffed his face. It had been several days since he had gotten any fresh food. He smiled to himself, as he thought of how he used to stuff himself just to experience the sense of taste.

He felt eyes on him, and looked up, to see a young man about his age in a Priest's robes from some order, smiling, watching him eat. A cat sat next to him, washing its face. Ax thought the young man looked familiar, but was more interested in the cat. At first, he saw a shimmer around the cat, like heat waves. Then, squinting, he saw how large that the cat was. He stared.

Understanding that the man across from him seeing the Cat's actual size, he asked, "How can you see him?"

Starting, Ax looked back, and felt stunned. It was Tobias.

"Tobias?" he asked, then in Shin'a'in," by the highest Gods!"

"How do you know who I am?"

Ax smiled. "I know you, because you are my best friend, my shorm. It has been seventeen years since we last saw each other, my fellow Animorph. I am certain that Rachel will be pleased. You are human, not a hawk."

As with all the others, memory came, and the realizations that they were still the same person. Shaking his head, Tobias said in wonder," I had been confused when Jtath said that I would regain what I had lost. Well, I know now."

"Who is Jtath?"

"My Firecat," he responded, pointing at the cream and red feline.

"Oh," Ax said. "He's like the veiled ones."

: Yes,: Jtath responded in his mind. : Now that introductions have been made, shall we go?"

"In the morning, we'll catch up on what has happened to you in this life time. Right now, I need to get some sleep."

The next morning, at the Firecat's suggestion, they started heading for Valdemar.

Chapter Six

"So, we think that the Yeerks have taken over a country to the East. The thing is, there is _only one_ country to the East, and that is the Eastern Empire."

"That sounds very, very bad," said Marco.

"It is," continues Jake. "The Empire is a monster, and there are who knows how many people there. Another thing, they use magic that is totally unknown o us. If the Yeerks have gotten hold of magical resources, we could be in serious trouble. We don't have many mages in Valdemar. There may be more in other countries, but we will have to go pure magic against science, while they can combine the two. If we are going to get the West ready to face the East, we have one hell of a task ahead of us."

They all nodded in agreement. After the rush of their reunion, the part of them that had dealt with the Yeerks came out, and they were already communicating with the Queen via the Far-Speakers of their party. Cassie, Jake and Marco had the ability, but too far enough for them to speak to Haven from three days off.

Already, they were starting to come up with battle plans. By mage and mind speech, the word was getting around about the Yeerks, and they could use mind speech to actually detect them. They had found out by accident, when they had been ambushed in the Comb, the mountain pass that made up the border between Rethwellen and Valdemar.

Cassie had been letting her mind wander, touching the surrounding animal minds in passing, getting the feel of the area. Cassie had animal mind speech, the Healing gift, and the earth sense. As she let herself drift, she could feel a spot in the land that felt sick, reaching out to it, she felt pain, and the screaming of minds under control.

Wrenching, she nearly fell out of her saddle, and she quickly told the others. They formed up, notched arrows, and got ready to fight.

Several Hork-Bajir burst out of hiding, followed by many Taxxons. Human Contollers followed that.

Marco was already loosing arrow after arrow, while his bird also attacked. Mage lightening struck, and many of the Hork-Bajir went up in flames.

"Jake, why didn't you do that earlier?" shouted Marco over the din. 

"I got knocked over the head before you got there!" he shouted back.

Downy was doing a lot of damage, and having a lot of fun doing it.

A human mage, one of the Controllers, engaged in a duel with Rachel, and she drew Need. With the blade, she charged him, and his head went rolling at his feet.

Cassie had started projecting fear, and many just broke and ran.

As the fight ended, they noticed how they had found out, and knew they had a new weapon.

They discussed the ways they could use their new tactic. Now, they could fight the Yeerks openly. That was something the Animorphs had been wanting to do in the beginning.

Later that night, Rachel woke up, trembling and sweating with fear.

"Rachel?" came a quiet voice from behind her.

Sitting up, she tried to shake off the effects of the nightmare that had been with her ever since her abilities had shown up.

"Rachel, what's wrong?" 

Expecting to see Cassie, Rachel was surprised to find it was Marco who had spoken to her.

"I-I-I-"

"Nightmare?"

She nodded, liking the sweat from her top lip.

He came over, and patted her shoulder.

"Care to tell me about it?"

She gave him an incredulous look.

He sighed. "Hey, I may not be Cassie, but I do happen to care. This is not the first time on this trip that you woke up in the middle of the night with a bad dream."

She groaned, and looked around. Cassie and Jake had disappeared, and it didn't take a genius to know that she wouldn't get any help from that quarter.

"Where are the love birds? Or do I have to guess?"

He snorted. "Don't ask, and don't change the subject."

"I, dreamed… Well, I dreamed that I killed Tobias." There, it was out.

"I take it you have had these dreams before?"

"Yes, and others. I have seen you, Cassie, Jake, and Ax all dead as well. Before, I didn't know who you where. No that I do, the dreams have been getting worse."

He patted her on the back. "It's just a dream."

"Yeah," she whispered, looking at the campfire. "Just a dream."

On the trip to Haven, Cassie and Jake noticed a change in the relationship between Rachel and Trickster. While they still bantered back and forth, it was more on the nature of a game, without any real sting to their comments. They even acted like friends. 

As they entered Haven, they met up with Tobias and Ax. Rachel had been looking in their general direction, when she recognized the pair, one on a war steed, and the other on a mule.

Joyfully she cried out, "Tobias!" launched herself from her horse, and threw herself at him.

"Rachel!" he bellowed, and they embraced.

Everyone there smiled, and started clapping when Tobias gave her a hearty kiss.

Again, there was a happy reunion.

Still, they had business, and had to go to the Palace. So they got back in the saddle, and continued on.

When they reached the Palace, they went to brief the Council immediately. 

"It feels good to be home," said Jake, and the ambassador gave him a strange look.

"This is still my home, ma'am, and I am still a Herald, even if I am an Animorph."

: Well spoken, Chosen.: replied Blazar, in his mind.

In the Council chamber, they were believed, far faster than they would have been on Earth. It helped that they were questioned under the Truth Spell, which made them speak the whole truth.

That evening, they were called to the Queen's private chambers.

"I and the Council believe you, but we don't know how long it will take to get an army ready. We also don't know what we can do that will be effective against this threat. I hate to ask this of you, but our best chance would be for a small force to go in and sabotage their efforts. It might be the only one we have."

"What do you mean?" asked Jake, but he had a good idea.

"I mean, that while you have given us a fighting chance, we will need the time a guerilla force would give us to get ourselves prepared. You know their weaknesses, and how to respond to them better than anyone else we could send. I ask you this, Jake, not as a Queen, but as a fellow Herald. Please, I need your help."

Jake thought for a moment. He had thought something like this was coming. It was a logical move, and one he himself would have made. The thing was, he didn't know if they could pull it off. True, they had fought some Controllers, and won, but if they were ever to run into Visser 3, and his Blade ship, they were toast.

Yet, they had a better chance than any one else. No real choice there.

"Your Majesty, we will."

The rest of the Animorphs nodded, thinking the same thing.

"Your Majesty!" came the urgent voice of a messenger.

"Yes?" she answered, sounding sharp with worry.

"Message from the Border. Several unknown enemies have attacked, and the town guarding that border is gone."

"Don't you mean ransacked? Razed, burned?"

"No, Your Majesty. I meant what I said. It is gone. Destroyed."

The pale Queen left, to get the whole of the news.

The Animorphs knew that they would have to leave, soon. The fight for Velgarth had begun.

Comments? Questions? Strange words of wisdom? 


	3. A Kind Behind the Door

****

A Different Path 3: A Kind Behind the Door

Disclaimer: Animorphs belongs to Scholastic, while the Heralds of Valdemar Series belong to Mercedes Lackey. I make no money from this.

Chapter One

The once Animorphs were at the border of the Empire of the East when they came across it.

Cassie noticed it first. Having the gift of empathy, she sensed the pain that hung in the air like the cloud of smoke. She gave a soft moan when she saw it, and got off her horse to throw up.

Everyone else looked up to see what had made her cry out.

It was a village that had been ransacked. Bodies littered the ground, in obscene positions, still showing the agony of their death throes. The stench of burned flesh covered everything, and the thatched buildings still burned at the outskirts. 

The Animorphs stopped still. They nearly started to wretch themselves.

"What- what happened here?" Jake asked.

"From the way the ground is burned, Jake, I would say that it was attacked by the yeerks. The pattern to the destruction is consistant with standard attack procedures," Ax answered him, with a detachment that Jake envied. Jake looked up, to see what he was gazing at, and found that his face was pinched, and pale as a ghost.

"We need to look for survivors," Cassie said after she had finished wiping off her mouth.

"Right. Split up, but stay alert; we don't know if there are any Controllers still here."

The obeyed, with everyone and their 'familiar' going with them. They combed the place, but they found no survivors. 

They met outside the town.

Tobias was missing.

They began searching for him, and it was after dark when he finally showed back up. They were so relieved to see that he was fine that they didn't even ask why his Firecat was missing. They calmed down, and started discussing what they had learned.

Rachel commented," I think I noticed something. All the dead were those that were too young to make good Controllers, or too old. I think those that would have fought back were vaporized by Dracon beams."

"You noticed that too?" Trickster added. 

"Uh-huh."

"We need to get going," Jake told everyone. "The sooner we get there, the sooner we can kick their collective rears."

They left.

As they rode, they saw further evidence of the yeerks presence. There were great swaths of vegetation destroyed, and many abandoned villages.

The made it to the border. 

Despite the land that had been raped on their side, the area on the other side was in perfect condition.

Tobias put the reason for it this way. "Why ruin your won play ground?"

Chapter Two

Even as they knew they were going into battle, Tobias and Rachel had been coming closer together. Once they had reunited, they had started exploring their relationship, in every sense of the word. Now that they weren't arguing over him being a _nothilit_, they became very, very close.

They had stopped for the night in one of the many happy hamlets they had come across. They had been able to sense many Controllers as they rode. Many were voluntary. It didn't take them that long to see why.

The yeerks had set themselves up as a religion. In a land that had gods that were very real, it was a plausible method. Anyone who had been 'converted,' would, of course, say that they had been sent from the gods. 

The Empire didn't have a religion, other than a form of ancestor worship, so they wouldn't know the real thing from the false.

Cassie could feel the pain of the people that had not been willingly 'converted' coming from nearby temple.

Tobias was outraged. "Who do they think they are?" he yelled. "They're tempting fate, you know. I know that Vkandis wouldn't stand for some false worship to prevail, and I know that most other gods wouldn't either!" 

"I agree," Ax said softly. "Though, I think Kalanel would be subtle in her approach of this. That is why I think we are here."

Jake had been deep in thought from the moment that he heard the yeerk's plan.

"I've got an idea," he put forth. "We have an opportunity to make those that believe in the divinity of the yeerks really, really start to doubt their conversion. Here's the plan."

Jake told them that if they were to go in and destroy the local temple, and free the involuntary Controllers, they would get enough doubt going that they would have more cover going into the capital. 

"Interesting idea, Jake," Tobias commented. "But don't you think it is a little premature? I mean, if these people really believe in this stuff, it could turn out bad for us."

"It sounds solid enough to me," Ax rebutted. Everyone else agreed with him.

Tobias sighed. "Later tonight, then?"

"Okay, everybody, later tonight."

Chapter Three

Rachel sat in her room at the inn, and wondered if the pain would ever stop.

Everything had started to go according to plan. They had entered the temple, and had begun their various attacks. She had been using her power to free the unwilling 'acolytes', and while everyone else had been holding off the human guards. Things had been going fine.

Then, without warning, Bug fighters came out of nowhere. They began landing huge squads of Controllers. They had Dracon beams, and she was hard pressed to keep up shields around the temple.

A human Controller attacked her from behind, and her shields collapsed.

Things had blurred in her memory from there. Rachel had drawn Need, and begun to defend herself. Hork-Bajir and Taxxons flooded the main chamber. Fire rained from the sky.

She could still hear Tobias screaming for them to run. He raised his arms, and she started to him. A pair of hands grabbed her from behind, and she fought madly to get to Tobias side. She felt a blow to the side of her head, and not even Need's pain blocking abilities could keep her knees from buckling. 

Trickster threw her over his shoulder, and as she lay limply, she heard Tobias call down the Demon Horde.

They had regrouped, and wondered what had gone wrong.

Jake had muttered to himself nonstop, going over his plan, and trying to understand what had happened. Cassie cried softly. Rachel grabbed Ax's sword, and if Marco hadn't stopped her, she would have fallen on it.

"I don't know what happened!" Jake finally shouted.

"If all we had to worry about had been getting in and out of the temple, then it would have worked," Ax commented calmly. "It's not your fault. I think we were led into a trap."

"How? No one knew about our plan but us."

Ax grimaced. "There could have been listeners in the walls. There could have been dozens of spying devices all around our rooms. Obvious in hindsight, but every thing is."

Trickster had been holding onto Rachel as she cried her eyes out. She looked up, face red and blotchy. "What now?" she asked tremulously.

Jake looked worried. His confidence had bee severely shaken. He ran his hands through his hair in a nervous gesture. "I don't know, cousin. All I can think of is keep going. We all knew that there was a chance that we could die, but none of us wanted to believe it. Tobias knew the risk when he volunteered to cover our escape." He looked at her squarely. "All we can do right now, is get our job done. That is all that matters now."

Rachel wanted to argue, but she knew that it would be useless. Besides, she would have said the same in similar circumstances. It was all that could be said.

That was how she found herself sitting in a room, staring into a fire, wondering if another drink would help. She had been helping herself generously to the wine cellar of the inn ever since they had gotten there. She was working her way through a second bottle by now.

Ironic, she thought. In the 'old world', it would be against the law for me to get into any wine at all. Now that I am in a world that I could have had a life with Tobias, I loose him. In the other, I had him alive, but out of reach. That is really, really ironic.

She had poured herself another glass, when someone knocked on the door. She figured, if she let them knock long enough, maybe they would go away. 

"Rachel. Rachel, I know you're in there." It was Cassie.

Rachel just stayed silent.

Cassie pounded on the door, and called her name some more, but finally stopped. She growled, "Be that way," and left. Cassie couldn't understand how her best friend could just ignore her like that, especially when she needed her.

Rachel downed her glass in one swallow, and poured again another. It cut her to the quick to hurt Cassie, but she didn't need compassion right now.

All her life she had been having visions about her friends. In all of them, she had seen their deaths. In many cases, she had predicted the demise of instructors at the Blue Mountain Mage School, or the fate of other students there. She had also had dreams about Tobias' death, at her hand. 

And she had been wrong. That was why she had taken it so hard. She hadn't been wrong about something like that before. 

She took another swallow, and realized she had finished that bottle. Oh, well, she had another.

She heard someone else start to pound on her door. Maybe if she ignored her, Casie would go away again.

Only, it wasn't Cassie this time, it was Marco.

"Rachel, come out, or I'm going in."

She stayed silent.

"Rachel-" he said threateningly.

"Gosh to heel," she slurred.

With a loud crack, he kicked her door open.

She was so surprised, that even in her drunken stupor, she jumped up.

He looked over her critically. "Now, while I may go to hell, you look like it."

"Sheeze, shanks."

Her knees gave out about then. Marco caught her.

"Okay, now you can talk about it, I guess. I know that you had been having visions of you killing bird-boy. That didn't happen. You should be happy."

She leaned against him, and sighed.

She began with how often she had those dreams, and what happened later. He listened. This went on to how she felt like she had let down the team, because she wasn't crazed Xena here. Finally, she was just babbling. It felt good, though, to get it off her chest. Even if she was talking to Marco.

"Ish really can'tsh believe it, Trickster. You haven't made one shmart ash comment once."

"Uh, thanks. I have been through some similar things, myself. I lost both my parents, and raised in a culture that makes the welfare of the Clan paramount. I saw fighting and killing younger than Jake or Cassie. We've both seen warfare close hand, and we both know want to avoid it now, only for the same reasons, unlike what we had been on Earth."

She had been leaning against his shoulder, and started to cry.

"None of that. Do you think Tobias would want you to blubber over him?" He leaned over, and kissed.

It had meant to be a friend's kiss, but it didn't stay that way.

They carried on for some time, but they didn't go any farther than kissing. Rachel and Marco simultaneously fell asleep.

They woke up the next morning, and looked at each other.

Rachel had an awful headache.

"Did we?" she asked him, because she really didn't remember much.

"No," he answered. "Good thing, too. We don't need another complication in our lives."

They both agreed never to tell anyone what had happened, and to forget the whole thing. Too bad they both had such memories.

They left the inn that morning. Rachel had cast a spell that made sure that none of their plans could be listened in on. She cursed herself for not thinking of it earlier.

They would keep going on to the Capital. Rumors had it that a new woman was wearing the Wolf Crown. It seemed that the yeerks had placed their own candidate on the Throne.

They were on their way into a huge, virgin forest, when they found a town that was being raided by the yeerks. It was small, isolated, and no one was likely to find it anytime soon.

This time, Rachel picked up on it. Need, who had been sleeping, woke with a vengeance, and made her go north, _now_.

They were about halfway there when she had a flash. It was a feeling of déjà vu. She had seen this before.

It was a small group of Controllers this time, mostly human, but they were armed with Dracon beams. Immediately, Trickster sent Siath to get a good look at the area.

"Two groups of human-Controllers have the village pinned in on east and north sides. They're herding them toward a large transport ship on the Southwest."

"Numbers?" Jake asked, tersely.

"About fifty in each group."

"A hundred, then," Jake said vaguely. He had the distracted look he got when he was coming up with a plan. 

Finally, he took a deep breath. "Okay, people, let's do this one fast. Ax, you, Rachel and Trickster go to the northeast, to take on transport ship. Cassie, Downy, Blazar and I will try to halt the Controllers. Rachel, you do your best to wreck the ship, Trickster and Ax, watch her back. Got it?"

Everyone nodded. Orders given, they all made a break for it.

Trickster and Ax got their bows strung and arrows notched, with Rachel preparing a spell. They rode directly to it.

"Ax," Rachel asked distractedly. "Do yeerk ships rust?"

"Not like iron, no. But they do deteriorate in atmosphere," he answered her, giving her a wicked grin.

Cassie, Jake and Downy galloped to the far end of the village, where the Controllers were firing at the crowds, trying to frighten them into the ships.

Cassie started by broadcasting calm to the people, while Jake lit fire to the yeerks. They both had mindspeech, so no innocents were harmed.

Things were going well, until the other Controllers showed up.

Rachel was lost in her spell casting, and wasn't paying any attention to what was going on around her. Ax was on his horse, which was bucking and kicking in the way only a Shin'a'in bred horse could. Trickster had dismounted, and was fighting with all he had.

Ax had just maimed another opponent when he heard a showering sound. He turned his head in time to see the transport become a fine powder. Rachel slumped in her saddle, and nearly fell out.

He gave a war cry, grabbed her arm, and they retreated.

Rachel drew Need when they saw how thick the fighting was around the area where they had left Jake and Cassie. Rachel had a horrible feeling when the view ahead of her finally registered.

Jake and Cassie were surrounded. Jake was injured, and Cassie was fighting with a knife against some Hork-Bajir. 

Rachel tried to gather her magic, but she was exhausted.

Trickster went for his arrows, but he was out.

Ax could only pray.

Just then, they heard a hideous shriek, and looked up. Downy, Cassie's friend, had been caught by a Dracon beam and fallen from the sky.

When Cassie saw this, she let her guard down for one precious second, and her spine was cut on a Hork-Bajir blade.

Jake's face spasmed when Cassie fell. His friends could see the thoughts race, and come to a decision. He mounted Blazar in the melee for a final time.

"No. No! NO!" Rachel heard a voice scream, as the well remembered ending of her dream became reality. The cry went on and on.

Time slowed.

Jake raised his arms to the sky-

Exactly the way she had seen it so many times-

The remaining Animorphs noticed the sky above them lighten to a dull orange, and fire rained down on them.

In a few moments, there was nothing left but scorched earth.

The scream stopped.

The surviving yeerks fled.

Again, Ax, Rachel and Marco stood outside a disaster area, and mourned.

Chapter Four

While the remnant of the Animorphs mourned, they did the only thing that they could: They went on with their mission. It was all they had left, now, but their hearts weren't in it.

They rode on in a stupor of silence. There was nothing they could talk about. Tobias might have been their eyes, but Jake and Cassie had been their brain and their soul. 

They were only a few miles outside the Capital city, now. The best plan they could come up with was what Jake had sketched out. They would go to the heart of the operations, and kill them. It was all that Jake could do with what little information they had. Now, it was the only plan they could use.

"They have got to know that we are coming by now," Trickster said.

"You're probably right, but there isn't anything we can do about it. Although, I think they still haven't gotten over the shock of having any resistance. Plus, the armies of the west are distracting them, I hope. Once all the magical resources of all the Kingdoms were put together, they would be hard to defeat," Ax responded.

"Does it matter?" Rachel whispered. "We go in, and as much damage as we can. We owe them, for Cassie and Jake. And Tobias."

"Then," Trickster grinned like his namesake. "Let's do it!"

It wasn't hard for Rachel to spin a spell of concealment. The yeerks weren't mages, at least not yet. The Palace was a huge, gaudy thing. It was impossible for them to miss. They took a few hours to find the best way into castle. As it turned out, it was through the dungeon.

They had all primed their weapons, and were wearing dark shirts and pants. 

They had an easy time getting in.

"Too easy," Trickster muttered.

"I wish you hadn't said that," Ax answered.

"Why?" 

"Because something bad almost always happens when somebody-"

Then, entered Visser 3.

"Visser 3!" they all hissed in surprise.

The 'Andalite Bandits'! Well, well, this is a pleasant surprise. Especially since I see that you are far older than you were than when I killed you. You will have to tell me how you did it. Of course, you may not live that long- he mocked, then struck!

Ax's sword was already there. This is what he had been training for, ever since he had become Kal'enedral. He had been waiting to avenge his brother's death, both his brothers.

What? Visser 3 cried in outrage. There is no way that a mere _human_ can best an Andalite! 

"I'm not an ordinary human, Visser," Ax panted, as he managed a shoulder cut to his opponent. "I'm the brother of Elfangor!"

A wild swing on the side of the Visser managed a light cut on Ax's cheek.

So, He sneered. You're not as good as you thought. He too, was panting.

"Better than you," Ax retorted, and his sword chopped off the end of his tail, and the dagger Ax had in his other hand sliced open a deep gash across his throat.

Ax saw his enemy fall, and turned his back. Visser 3 was as good as dead.

"Ax, look out!" he heard, and he whirled around in time to see Visser 3 blast a Dracon beam into his face. He had enough time to scream, as he disintegrated.

Rachel and Marco stood there, dry-eyed. They would cry later, if they lived.

Chapter Five

It had to have been a trap all along, they wondered. How else could they be the last ones?

With heavy hearts, they approached the ornate throne room. It was guarded by two human soldiers. Siath took out one, while Need and Rachel took out the other. Rachel blasted the doors open. 

Rachel was about to do a berserker run on whoever was in there, when she came up short.

Visser 1 sat on the throne.

Marco, standing behind Rachel, spoke first. "Hi, Mom."

Visser 1 smiled. Marco saw the mother of his former self smile, and felt cold inside.

"It is good that you finally made it," she said coolly. "I was beginning to wonder if you would come at all."

"We couldn't miss the party, now, could we?" Rachel grated at her.

"No, no you couldn't, dear Rachel. Welcome to Velgarth, by the way. Someday, you'll have to tell me how you got here. After you died freeing earth, I mean. Well, conquest wouldn't be conquest if you didn't have the occasional troublemakers."

Rachel was getting really, really pissed at this point. She began to chant the opening to one of her better destruction spells-

When her body froze up. Totally.

Then she remembered. Need wouldn't let her harm a woman!

"Having a little problem, now, are we? I researched this world's defenses rather thoroughly, you know. That pretty sword of yours was mentioned a couple of times. I guess you'll never get the chance to use it, will you?"

"And _Marco_," she drawled. "Never could kill your dear old mummy, could you? That is why you two were allowed to live, you know. So that some of the Animorphs would still be alive to-"

She never finished that sentence, because Trickster shot her through the head.

"My name is Trickster," he said quietly.

He walked over to pull his arrow from the body.

"I guess that means you could do it, huh?"

What she saw next was one of the biggest shocks of her life. Marco's eyes got very wide, and he drew and arrow. Then, he burst into flames.

Rachel had felt magic used behind her. She whirled around. 

It was Tobias.

"Rachel!" he shouted, and she ran to him without thinking.

They embraced quickly, and stayed that way for along time.

"I saw Marco- I couldn't believe it when he tried to- Oh, Rachel, he tried to kill you, I couldn't let him, I had to kill him-"

Rachel closed her eyes tightly, and wanted to trust him.

In her mind's eye, she saw Trickster see Tobias. Tobias had a dagger in his hand, behind her. She saw Trickster try to shoot.

It was just like in her dream.

She looked up into his eyes, and smiled at him.

"I don't ever want to leave you again," she whispered lovingly into his ear. "I love you."

She drew Need, and rammed it through his chest.

Rachel left the sword there, and watched as his face contorted.

"You Andalite loving scum!" he tried to say, as blood ran from his mouth. "We will destroy you for this! We have everything we need for all out invasion…" he trailed off, and died.

Rachel closed her eyes against the pain.

In her mind, she could see what had happened. The day that Tobias had disappeared, and come back without his Firecat, he had been infested. He had set up his own death. He had given them information on how they thought, how they would attack. Now, they were ready to invade.

She smiled at the pure irony, and cursed the universe. Drawing all the energy she could from the area, she pulled it all into one, singular spell. 

Final Strike.

She released the glowing power, and felt her flesh burn and bubble away. She welcomed the blackness that came afterwards, because it meant it was over.

Cassie and Jake came to first.

"What!"

"How?"

"Jake!" Cassie yelled, grabbing him, and kissing him deeply.

Around them, the other Animorphs began to wake up.

Shouts of "We're alive!" echoed from around the barn.

Then, they noticed something strange.

Jake was looking Cassie over carefully, proving to himself that she wasn't hurt, when it dawned on him…

"Cassie," he said slowly. "You still look the way you did on Velgarth."

"So do you," she answered him.

Glancing around, they saw that everyone, Ax and Tobias included, looked exactly the same way they had when they had died.

"It looks like Kalanel kept her word," Ax smiled.

**_Yes, it would seem that I did,_** they heard the Goddess say.

They turned around, and there she was.

"You told us that we would come back to our original bodies, no matter what happened in our other life," Ax said softly. "Why didn't we remember it?"

**_I tampered a little with your memories, younger brother,_** she told him. **_I did not want you making foolish mistakes._**

"Why do we have the same bodies that we had? Why aren't we kids again?" Marco asked.

**_Because, Trickster, you are still in your original bodies. You are in morph._**

"You mean, we can morph our Velgarth bodies whenever we need to?" Rachel asked incredulously.

The Lady nodded.

Rachel felt at her belt instinctively, reaching for Need. She was there. Rachel's eyes widened with shock.

All of them had their old weapons and clothing. Then, an ear shattering whiny split the air.

"BLAZAR!" Jake called out, overjoyed to see his Companion. A hawk-eagle, a griffin, and a Firecat joined him.

"They all came back with us?" Jake asked, hugging his dearest friend in the world.

Again, the Lady nodded.

**_Ax, you asked for help, and I have given it. Do you believe in a higher power now?_**

Ax laughed. It was the first such laugh that anyone had heard from him, because it was audible, and it filled with an emotion that no one there could name. Maybe it was fey; maybe it was someone who knew that his faith was justified. It was wonderful, whatever it was.

Epilogue

Ax had finished his evening ritual. He stood with his eyes to the stars, and thought about whom he was now. In a strange way, he was sad to be back as an Andalite. For all his so-called superiority that his kind gave airs to, he was human in his soul now. Maybe his soul had never been one kind or the other. Maybe he was a combination of both. He no longer questioned.

He felt a familiar tingle come from behind him, as his spirit teachers arrived. He morphed to human, and gripped his sword. 

It was time practice.

What do you get when you cross the Animorphs from Velgarth and Everworld? My next fic!

Comments? 


	4. To Manticore

****

A Different Path 4: To Manticore

Disclaimer: Animorphs belong to Scholatic, The Heralds of Valdemar series belongs to Mercedes Lackey and her publisher, and the Honor Harrington series belongs to Baen. I make no money from this, I wish to make no money from this, and since I am a poor college student, nothing at all would be gained by suing me.

Note: I have stuck my hand into the wasps' nest with this one. I have, in one fic, the possibility of being sued by two different publishers. This means, if you read this _don't_ go running to the publishers! Pretty please? Yeah, and I know that I said they would be going to Everworld next, but this sounded better.

Ax began with his basic warm ups. 

He moved from there to some basic acrobatics, ones that were good for limbering up. Ax then went into quick, hand and foot strikes, them kicks, and flips. He drew his sword with a rasp, and integrated it into his deadly dance.

Tobias had landed on a young sassafras tree, his talons gripping the sweet smelling bark. He had been hunting that morning, but had been distracted by his friend's exercises. He had never seen him practice like that when he had been on Velgarth.

Ax was again bringing his blade around for a particularly difficult move, one that would involve a jump, block and downward slice to the back. 

Tobias, had he been human, would have held his breath as he was doing this, and as it was, he was impressed. 

Ax began to slow, then, and he carefully reversed his movements, this time slower, and slower, until his sword was back in his sheath. Then he was whirling only with hands and feet, then, he finished with the same movements that he began with, ending in the exact same position that he started with.

I wish I could applaud with my wings, Ax-man, Tobias commented. He had enjoyed that performance.

"Thank you, Tobias," he said, feeling good from his workout. He rubbed his face, stripping away the sweat.

He stopped in mid motion, looking at his hand.

_"This is my hand,"_ he said in Shin'a'in, looking at it in surprise.

What's wrong, Ax?

Ax looked at him in a way that made him wonder how he could have asked such a stupid question.

"I am Shin'a'in, but I am also an Andalite," he told Tobias, looking like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

No, you are Ax, Tobias said, troubled.

"Really? You aren't getting a sense of vertigo about being in hawk form again?"

Not really, no.

Oddly, that bothered Tobias. He had been a priest for longer on Velgarth than he had been alive here. Why shouldn't he have been bothered? But, unlike his uncle, he had no problem at all with becoming a bird again. That made no sense.

Well, he said cheerfully, tying to change the subject, I can just imagine what the first day back to school in, what, sixteen, seventeen years is going to be like for everybody.

Marco was on the school bus that morning, feeling his bond bird, Siath, look through his eyes. Chuckling to himself, Marco remembered the first time he had done that. It had spooked the life out of him.

:Friends come,: Siath commented into his mind, as Jake boarded the bus.

Marco was thinking that he would much prefer to be on patrol, climbing trees, with his bow and arrow ready, but he was back to being a thirteen-year-old again.

Chuckling to himself, Marco thought of the scene that had taken place that morning with his father and stepmother, when he had come down wearing camouflage. He had been shopping that weekend, after he had come back from Velgarth, and had raided an army supply store, and a sporting goods store. Now, he had another bow and arrows, one that wouldn't look like it came from the set of Conan, the Barbarian. He could use them to practice, though he wouldn't think they would hold up in an actual scouting patrol.

They had nearly had a cow! Snickering now, Marco wondered what they would have done if they had seen Siath.

Jake slid into the seat beside him, and leaned over when he noticed that Marco's mind was elsewhere.

"Thinking about," he lowered his voice, "Velgarth?"

"How can you tell?" 

Smirking, Jake pointed to his clothing.

"I'm not the only one," retorted Marco. Jake was dressed all in white.

The next stop was to get Rachel and she boarded, wearing a long, dark blue coat that resembled the robe of her mage school. No one else would have noticed it, but Jake and Marco were able to make out the outline of her sword, Need's, hilt.

"What are you doing," hissed Jake in her ear. "You can't bring a sword to school!"

"I couldn't leave it behind, Oh glorious leader! I'm soul bonded to it, remember? It was either bring it or be writhing in pain on the floor."

The shook their heads in agreement, and wry sympathy.

"Can you keep people from noticing?" Jake muttered out of the side of his mouth.

She grimaced. "Yes."

They sat together, trying to imagine what school would be like. 

Marco shook his head in annoyance. "It will be the same as it always was," he sighed.

A sharp elbow hit his side.

"In English, Trickster?" whispered Rachel.

They were coming to Cassie's and Marco was wondering how Jake and she would treat each other. They were married there, and now they were going to have to go back to single life.

Of course, when Cassie got on the bus, Marco and Rachel could see the openings of a bad romance reunion, which was cut short by someone asking Cassie if she remembered what their homework assignment had been.

Rachel and Marco shared a look. 

It would be a long day.

It was the middle of the day, when one of their other abilities showed up. Cassie was walking to her English class when she passed Chapman in the hall.

She felt something strange in her mind as she walked on by…

It was pain, but not physical. It was the shattered remains of the mind that was once Chapman.

This night, we will finally find defeat the Andalite bandits…. she heard whispered in the fractured, tortured brain of Chapman.

Cassie stiffened at hearing this, even in passing. Abandoning all thoughts of the ethics of it, she sent a thought probe into the raging maelstrom of his mind. Pulling out again, she ran to the bathroom, and heaved out her guts.

It was only a few minutes after she left the restroom, that she contacted Jake using mindspeech. 

:Jake, I found out something bad.:

Jake, who had been in history, and about to fall asleep, snapped to alert.

:What is it?:

:I'll show you.:

Opening up her mind, she showed him the images that she had gleaned from her rifling through Chapman's mind.

Jake started to get a little sick himself.

:Okay, I'll tell Trickster. He's over a few classes.:

:Rachel doesn't have mindspeech, but I'm in the next class. Have Marco use Siath to get a hold of Ax and Tobias. We are going to have to do something _now._:

"On it," he whispered aloud. No one heard him.

"We'll need a distraction," he mumbled to himself… He stared at on of the trashcans, and it burst into flames.

The fire alarms went off, and Jake scurried out the door with the rest of his classmates, while mentally contacting Trickster.

As he left the queue of students getting to safety, dashing behind a Dumpster, and beginning to morph, all he could think was, "This is going to be a long, long day."

Trickster had already signaled Siath when he was getting out of the school building. He ran into Rachel on the way.

"Well, my lady, are you ready?" he said with a rakish grin.

"I only now heard what Cassie was so worried about, and she didn't give me much of an explanation. I don't have mindspeech out of morph, remember?"

Marco was listening this with half an ear, because his attention was on Chapman and-

"Visser Three," he hissed, his mind probing ahead to confirm it. His sneakers had squeaked when he came to a stop.

"Yup," Rachel responded, feeling the telltale signs of her sword Need stirring. A headache began in the back of her head.

"Oh, no," she muttered, wondering what her insane sword would make her do this time.

"We need to follow them," said Marco tersely, not seeing the strain that Rachel was under.

"Yes."

"Do we morph?"

To Rachel surprise, she answered," No, I can put up a spell that will make people think they see something else. Or,"

A look of intense concentration crossed her face, and she finished, "Or, we can morph our Velgarth selves, and we will be able to use those abilities. I don't think that a bear would be a very good thing about now."

He nodded, and quickly, he grew taller, and his skin took on a darker sheen. His hair became mottled with white roots, and his eyes became blue.

Rachel went through the same, which, other than becoming taller, where far less dramatic. 

Drawing her sword, and bearing her teeth, Rachel said, "Let's go."

"Where are Rachel and Marco?" asked Ax, looking from his Prince and back to his mate.

"They aren't here yet?" Cassie exclaimed.

"No," answered Jake, and Tobias nodded wordlessly. All were in there human morphs.

It was then that there was a shimmer in the air, and the atavistic feeling that came with something _Other_ arriving.

One of Ax's teachers, the Spirit Sword Sworn, had arrived.

"Oh, my Goddess," Jake muttered.

"I suppose that would be appropriate," said the veiled one.

"Ha-Sin," said Ax very formally, using the Shin'a'in honorific for teacher. "What has brought you here, out of place and time?"

"Your friends are going to need your help, and you need to be their with them. I would advise that you get Trickster's weapons, and Lady Raqueljiz magic supplies, for the mission that you will undertake will be a long one."

"Can you tell us anything more, veiled one?" asked Cassie softly.

"Not even the Star-Eyed can discern that many futures," was his only answer, before he disappeared.

"Well, that's great," growled Tobias. "Can't your goddess give better clues than that?"

"If she did, she wouldn't be a goddess, now, would she?" replied Ax serenely. 

Marco and Rachel had followed Visser Three into a strip mall. Moving as quietly as only a Hawkbrother-trained scout could, Trickster called his bondbird to him to do a flyby.

"Okay, there's no one on the roof. I'm going up."

"What, you going to morph a gorilla?" 

"Why would I need to do that?" he asked, puzzled. Before Rachel could answer, he took a quick jump, and wedged his feet and hands in the corner of the alley that they had hidden in. He shuffled his way up, careful to keep from slipping.

"How did you do that?"

Grunting. "Training." Grunt.

Thankfully, that training had included always bringing a rope along. Dangling it down, Rachel tied it around her waist, and Marco easily pulled her up.

They went across the roof, until they got to the roof-access door.

Siath winged his way to his bondmate's shoulder. 

Running in, they finally found out what had scared the living daylights out of Cassie.

It was a doomsday weapon. That they could tell right away.

"Can you pick up any thoughts about what this thing is supposed to do, Trickster?"

Nodding, Trickster sent out a thought probe, and encountered…

__

….destroy….

…atmosphere generator…

…Nick-At-Night….

…How long do you think you can keep up that oatmeal habit?

…Ruin rainforest…

….hold air for ransom…

"Their going to destroy the rainforest, and use an atmosphere generator to make it look like they were saving the world, and use the old we-come-in-peace line to announce their arrival, and use that to take over Earth."

"No wonder Cassie was sick," Rachel whispered. "Hells, I fell ill, too."

"We have got to destroy it. Now."

"How?" 

"Well, if Jake was here, I would say just burn the damn thing. But as he isn't, what can you do?"

Taking a quick glance, Rachel tried to get a feel to the magic ambiance of the place.

"I can melt it, I think but-" without warning, Rachel was grabbing her sword and running to the left. Straight toward Visser Three.

Need was pissed.

She had felt the pain that so many human females were in, and had decided to take matters into her own "hands".

Screaming like a berserker, Rachel held her blade above her head. The Visser saw her, and stood there, stunned, that a mere human female would try to attack him with something as primitive as a sword.

Still, he was human at the moment. Rachel, who was in her human morph of Raquel, was a strong, young, and under the control of an eldritch blade. Nope, no real threat at all.

"YEAAAAAHHHHH!" she screamed, as Jake, Cassie, Tobias and Ax arrived. They were in their Velgarth morphs as well.

Along with them, were their various familiars. 

Blazar was stopping several human Controllers into the floor, with Downy shredding the Hork-Bajir with her meat hook for a beak. The Firecat Jtath was under Tobias as he attacked from the air, one hitting high, the other hitting low.

Rachel had been hit from behind by Chapman, who was trying to get her off the Visser. She ran him through.

It was pure insanity after that. Humans with psychic abilities were running rampant, with two insane swordsmen slashing Controllers to ribbons.

Visser Three had demorphed, and Rachel was having a harder time keeping up, when Ax intervened.

"Take care of the weapon," he shouted at her in Shin'a'in.

Wheeling around, she pulled all the energy she could from all the room's equipment.

She gathered it into a ball, and observed the massive beast of a machine that was there. It was embedded into the floor, covering at least two stories. There were conduits that suggested that it might be even more massive.

The middle looked like it would be the most easily melted, she thought, a part of her mind that wasn't on the magic ogling the thought that she was using _magic_ to fight the yeerks. Sure, she had done things like that on Velgarth, but Earth? Sheesh.

Murmuring in the ancient language of the Blue Mountain Sorcerers, she cast a spell of intense heat into the giant mechanism.

**_BOOM_**

"Er… I guess that it that, isn't it?" Cassie said, astonished.

It was then that the building started to shake.

"I think that we need to get out of here!" shouted Ax, when Visser Three made a run for the door. He barely got through, before the walls collapsed in front of Ax.

"Uh, how are we going to do that?" shouted Marco, who had been tossed his weapons and was donning them.

"I might-" started Rachel, but the floor was started to crack.

"Do it," ordered Jake.

"But I don't know-"

"NOW!"

Summoning her courage, Rachel started to perform a spell that she had never done before.

She was going to make a gate. It was an Adept level spell, while she was only a Journeyman, but what did she had to loose?  
The portal opened, with its pretty colors, but any anyone who was even slightly sensitive to magic could tell that it was trying to drain Rachel empty.

They rushed through, with Rachel making a quick jump in behind, when

**__**

BOOM ABABABABOOOMM

Grayson was a beautiful world.

It was a gorgeous jewel tone green-blue, with a climate that was so pleasant that no one would ever complain about the heat.

This was wear Rachel's portal, after being disrupted by the explosion, dumped the Animorphs.

The only problem with Grayson, was that it was like living in a toxic waste dump. It contained a lethal concentration of heavy metals, which made even breathing the air, hazardous. 

Which made the only problem that the Animorphs have, was that they were outside the protective domes that kept the planetary populace safe.

Stay tuned, because, guess what? I am doing a crossover with the Honor Harrington Series! 


End file.
